>Tang Xiaoxian‏: Part One of the Historical Photo Collection of the Origin of Modern Hope Chinese School in Phoenix

>Tang Xiaoxian‏: Part One of the Historical Photo Collection of the Origin of Modern Hope Chinese School in Phoenix Phoenix Tang Xiaoxian From the second half of the 19th century to the Phoenix, Arizona area...

Phoenix City Tang Xiaoxian

From the second half of the 19th century when Chinese people settled in Phoenix, Arizona, to the 1980s when Chinese students studying abroad began to come to Arizona State University and other universities in large numbers, the Chinese associations in the area were dominated by clan associations. Almost all traditional Chinese communities speak Cantonese.

In early 1995, I approached Mr. Pang Bangcheng, my hometown, close neighbor, and family friend in Wuxi, Jiangsu, to discuss the possibility of establishing a Jiangsu hometown association because there were many Jiangsu natives among my classmates at the state university. He readily agreed. We discussed this matter with Mr. Ji Liangjun again, and he firmly supported it. On February 12, 1995, the Association of Jiangsu Provincials (AJP), the first new immigrant organization in Arizona, held its founding meeting at the China Pavilion (owner Pang Bangcheng) on ​​the southeast corner of McClintock and Baseline in Tempe, and hired Mr. Lin Zixuan and Mr. Li Zhongming as consultants. At that time, Mr. Zhou Wenzhong, the Consul General of the Consulate General in Los Angeles (later served as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States), sent a congratulatory letter. The meeting elected Pang Bangcheng (President), Ji Liangjun (Vice President), Tang Xiaoxian (Secretary-General), Yu Xiaoguang, Jiang Xinmin, and Cheng Yan as members of the Board of Directors, and later added Ms. Cao Yi as a director. At the first board meeting, Director Cheng Yan proposed that after the association is established, it should not just eat, drink, and hold parties, but should do good deeds and do practical things for the Chinese community. At that time, many children of overseas students had reached school age, and there was an urgent need to set up Chinese schools so that they would not forget the language of their motherland. Cheng Yan’s proposal was unanimously agreed. President Pang Bangcheng twice nominated me to be responsible for the specific preparations for the establishment of the school, but I declined twice because the difficulties were too great. There were no teaching places, no funds, no teachers, no teaching materials, and the source of students was undecided. Later, seeing that summer vacation was approaching and time was running out, I agreed. With everyone’s help and support, Tempe Chinese School was finally established on August 19 of that year. I asked Vice President Ji Liangjun about the name of the school. He said Tempe Chinese School because almost all the students are the children of ASU students studying abroad and they all live in Tempe. Afterwards, I obtained the approval of the board of directors and that was it.

At the founding meeting of the Jiangsu Hometown Association, an American friend who taught English in Zhenjiang spoke.

The second person from the left in the front row, Mr. Ding Zonghao, was the president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association of Arizona State University at the time. This organization cooperates with the Jiangsu Association to organize Chinese schools.

Members of the first council of Jiangsu Association, from left to right: Cheng Yan, Tang Xiaoxian, Pang Bangcheng, Yu Xiaoguang, Ji Liangjun, Jiang Xinmin. Later, Cao Yi was added as a director.

All the Jiangsu Hometowns Association's founding meeting took a group photo.